Famous Short Story

The writer (seen here in a picture from the eighteen-eighties) hid his own life story. Photograph courtesy Swann Auction Galleries The story of the writer who called himself O. Henry could almost be an O. Henry story. The writer—his real name was William Sidney Porter—had a secret, and he spent most of his adult life trying to conceal it. The pseudonym was part of that effort, but Porter also avoided being photographed, rarely gave interviews, and steered clear of situations where someone might pry into his past. He was not a recluse, but he did not like to be the center of attention. People found him affable, unpretentious, and somewhat inscrutable. As a writer, Porter was identified with New York City, where more than a hundred of his stories are set, but he was born in the Confederacy, in Greensboro, North Carolina, in 1862, and he retained, as you can see in some of his stories, the racial prejudices of a white Southerner of his time. His early life was unsettled....

Myth: King Midas What it's about: Auren has been gold-touched by King Midas himself, and because of that, she is favored and feels safe inside the walls of the castle. But the truth is that she is his prisoner living inside a gold cage, and when Auren finally ventures outside those walls, her reality quickly changes. Content warning for attempted rape/rape, violence, abuse, Stockholm syndrome, murder, grooming, and the topic of trafficking.  Get it from Bookshop or from your local indie bookstore through Indiebound here. Adblock test (Why?)

Daphne (played by Phoebe Dynevor) and Simon (Regé-Jean Page) on "Bridgerton" might be TV's hottest couple these days. (Netflix) For those nights it's hard to get to sleep, there are apps for that, including one that replaces the the restless chatter in your brain with the soothing, romantic voice of "Bridgerton's" Duke of Hastings telling you a bedtime story. Regé-Jean Page has joined Matthew McConaughey, Kate Winslet, Idris Elba, Mandy Moore and other celebrities who tell bedtime stories, which are available via the sleep and meditation app, Calm, that are designed to help users wander off to dreamland. The British-Zimbabwean actor, who became a global heartthrob on Netflix's racy period drama, "Bridgerton," tells a story called "The Prince and the Naturalist." With his mellifluous tones, Page takes listeners on a journey through Old England as a "naturalist and his royal pupil discover the wis...

Re: 'The department's 'response' has been appalling" The recent article regarding sexual interference within Hidden Valley School has deeply affected many community members. It is distressing to think that a school environment would be created where predatory individuals are able to access those vulnerable. Our blessings go out to those parties involved, may wounds heal and may they be redeemed in spirit as they journey in their new lives. May truth and justice be served. It is with great relief that both the Yukon Child and Youth Advocate and the Department of Education will conduct a thorough investigation of the school system to ensure safety for all. We are a society of diverse life ways, traditions, cultures and ideologies. The public school system in Canada, ideally, creates a space where all feel safe and can thrive. Recent news from Manitoba states that an Education reform bill — Bill-64 — seeks to improve parent choice and involvement in school...

Adults across England are today finding out whether they have stepped closer to their dream careers or finally passed their exams after multiple attempts. FE Week has decided this year to dedicate its coverage of level 2 results day today to learners who have passed their English, maths or vocational assessments later in life than the average GCSE or BTEC student. Many of the people we have heard from are looking to use their qualifications to study for careers in healthcare, such as occupational therapy or nursing. From beauty therapy to mental health nursing Twenty-six-year-old Jade Digby from Loughborough College has achieved a grade 4 in GCSE maths and an access to health studies qualification and will be taking an undergraduate Master's degree in adult nursing with mental health and leadership. Jade Digby She said she was "over the moon," as "being able to work in mental health is really close to my heart because I've experienced quite a few i...

Honeycomb By Joanne M. Harris, illustrated by Charles Vess Fantasy/Gollancz/2021/Hardcover/420 pages/$54.94/Available here "There is a story the bees used to tell, which makes it hard to disbelieve." So begins this book of 100 gossamer tales, which flit through fairy realms. Anglo-French author Harris is best known for her novel Chocolat (1999), but has in recent years plumbed a rich vein of mythology and folklore, from Norse legends in The Gospel Of Loki (2014) to Orfeia (2020), which gender-bends the Greek tale of Orpheus. Honeycomb is constructed from short stories she began telling some years ago on Twitter. In content and cadence, they evoke the fairy tales of the Brothers Grimm and Charles Perrault, as well as the Child Ballads anthologised by 19th-century folklorist Francis James Child. Several are connected, while others are standalone, but she stacks them all neatly together like the cells of the title. They are exquisitely illustrated by Vess, an...

If you're trying to develop fluency in a non-native tongue, language immersion is a crucial part of the learning process. Surrounding yourself with native speakers helps with pronunciation, context building, and most of all, confidence. But what if you're an eight-year-old kid in Spain learning English and can't swing a solo trip to the United States for the summer? Novakid, founded by Maxim Azarov, wants to be your next best option. The San Francisco-based edtech startup offers virtual-only, English language immersion for kids between the ages of four through 12, by combining a mix of different services from live tutors to gamification. After closing its $4.25 million Series A round last December, Novakid announced today that it is back with a $35 million Series B financing, led by Owl Ventures and Goodwater Capital. Existing investors also participated in the round, including PortfoLion, LearnStart, TMT Investments, Xploration Capital, LETA Capital and BonAngels. ...

Welcome to a list of books like Six of Crows . In these cities, promises pave the streets, leaders assemble ragtag crews, impossible heists become possible, and the ruling class doesn't stand a chance. It is chaotic, thrilling, and we are all along for the ride. Six of Crows: A Brief Summary Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo was the start of a fantasy heist duology. A crew of damaged rogues work together to steal the impossible and save the world in the process. Between explosives, sleight of hand, magic, and brute force, our lovably deadly Crows break into an unbreakable ice prison and discover friendship along the way. After walking through the world in the Shadow and Bone series, Bardugo was set to sprint through Ketterdam. Complex characters maneuver through brilliant political mechanicians in a novel with an impressive expansion of prior worldbuilding. When you finish the series, you need books like Six of Crows to fill the void. In short, you can have your wa...

Fort Smith Times Record The inaugural University of Arkansas at Fort Smith Summer Bridge in English program gave some entering students a head start on the fall semester by allowing them to complete their English Comp I and College Writing Workshop courses during the summer. All eight students enrolled finished the courses successfully. The participating students praised the program and the people they met through it. Matthew Schmitz, an incoming business administration major, said he would recommend the course to incoming students despite its quick pacing. "The course has been a great learning experience for me. I've learned how to improve my writing skills and how to do really well in class," Schmitz said. In addition to the course work itself, students had a chance to establish relationships with UAFS Writing Center tutors and academic peer mentors, connecting them to two critical support systems to help them during their first year of college. David ...

There's a problem with Kabuliwala . The Bengali writer Syed Mujtaba Ali realised it on his way to Kabul in 1927. Ali, who had been a student at Santiniketan under Rabindranath Tagore, had accepted a teaching job in Kabul. Tagore's touching short story, Kabuliwala , about the unlikely friendship between Rahmat, a trader from Afghanistan, and Mini, a little Bengal girl, was already famous. But Sardarji, the driver of the bus from Peshawar to Kabul, was perplexed when Ali mentioned the Kabuliwalas of Calcutta (now Kolkata). "Why did you say Kabuliwala? The inhabitants of the city should be called either Kabuli or Kabulwala. So why this business of Kabuliwala?" Ali was abashed. Tagore had called them Kabuliwalas and Kabuliwalas is what they have remained. But there was another problem as well. The Kabuliwalas who roamed the streets of Calcutta selling dried fruits and walnuts, running moneylending businesses, were not from Kabul at all. "They are almos...

[unable to retrieve full-text content] Moonwalking with Einstein by Joshua Foer – review    The Guardian

Mesa Community College English faculty Stacy Wilson and Alex Arreguin receive the MCC Developmental Education Endowment Award to contextualize teaching and learning in English courses (specifically ENG101 and ENG102). This is accomplished by engaging students in active learning through hands-on experiences and the use of real-world examples pertinent to each student to teach abstract ideas or concepts. "Contextualized teaching and learning asks instructors to help students build bridges between prior knowledge, course concepts and sites of future application," said Wilson. "We are customizing our courses with activities and examples students can relate with, explicitly linking rhetoric and composition to scenarios and sites they currently occupy or soon will. This contextualization enables students to weave academic content with real-world application and, ultimately, facilitates deep learning. We are excited to share this framework with faculty...

The UAB School of Education is offering free online English courses to the community this fall. The University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Education's Community English Program is offering free, online-only English language classes this fall. Fall classes begin Sept. 16, 2021, at 7:30 p.m. (U.S. Central Time) and end Dec. 9, 2021.   Free classes are offered to any individuals — UAB students and employees, or the public — who are at least 18 years old and interested in learning English. All new students must take an online placement test by Sept. 3 to register for fall classes. Based on the online placement test, students are placed into four different course levels to learn among peers with similar language skillsets.   Classes are taught by graduate students training to become ESOL teachers. Throughout the weekly lessons, English learners can expect to participate in activities that integrate listening, speaking, reading, writing, vocabu...